


The Idiot in the Library

by little_dhampir



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Library, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Kiss, Librarian Arthur, Libraries, M/M, Meet-Cute, Student Merlin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-28 00:19:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15036539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little_dhampir/pseuds/little_dhampir
Summary: Arthur loved his job working as a student librarian, even though it often meant dealing with rude idiots. Enter Merlin, who might just be the rudest idiot of them all.





	The Idiot in the Library

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fifty_fifty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fifty_fifty/gifts).
  * Inspired by [The Prat in the Library](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13335741) by [fifty_fifty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fifty_fifty/pseuds/fifty_fifty). 



> This is for Fifty, hope you love it as much as I loved writing it!
> 
> Thank you moon for being my last minute beta :)
> 
> Guess I can't say anything more without giving away my identity XD

Arthur sighed as he looked down at his phone, annoyance clear on his face even though nobody was around to see it. Gwaine had just texted him, ten minutes before their shift was about to start, telling Arthur he had an emergency and could therefore not work his shift tonight. “Right,” Arthur mumbled to himself as he looked up from his phone to have a look at the mirror in front of him. “Gwaine's emergency is probably Percy’s dick.”

Arthur really didn't get how Gwaine had gotten the job at the university library in the first place, not that he didn't like the Irish guy; Gwaine was just, well not the kind of guy one expected to be a librarian. Especially because he tended to not show up quite often, always with an excuse as to why he couldn't make it. Their boss always ate it up, when Arthur knew for sure that most of the time Gwaine was just busy with his latest conquest. Hell, it had happened more than once that Arthur had found the other librarian hiding between some shelves, making out with one of the students who were supposed to be here to study, not to make out like teenagers in American TV shows!

That's why Arthur liked working with Gwen so much; she was nice and reliable, always ready to help others and never letting him down. For a split second he thought about texting her, asking if she would come buy to help him with the masses of students lingering in the library, but then he thought better of it. She had been working overtime so much lately, she deserved a break and a quiet evening at home with her boyfriend. Besides, the library wasn't that busy anyway, the students were mostly here to study and therefore probably wouldn’t need much help.

Arthur looked at his phone again, and realized it was time to leave the library bathroom and start his shift. As he walked to the front desk, he could already see Freya smiling at him. She had been working with Leon for the last few hours and was clearly eager to finally be done for the day.

“Where's Gwaine?” she asked, closing some tabs on the computer.

“Emergency,” was all Arthur replied as he stood in front of her. “Tell Leon I’m here, and he can go home.” He had seen the other student librarian help some girl in the poetry section.

“Will do. Just a warning,” Freya said as she stood up and started collecting her stuff. “The old guy is here again.” Arthur didn't need any more of a description to know who she was talking about. Even among their most infamous readers the guy stood out. He was an elderly, incredibly rude man, always out to shout at the people working at the library. He even once managed to reduce Gwen to tears. Arthur really couldn't fathom how this guy wasn't banned from the library yet--Or what exactly he was doing at a university library.

“Ok, anything else?” He asked as he put his own stuff down behind the desk once Freya had shuffled to the front of it.

“Nothing much, or at least nothing too unusual. A few noise complaints, a few complaints about the AC--the usual stuff, so you should have time to read,” she said as she pointed to the fantasy novel Arthur had just set down in front of his computer screen.

“Haha, thanks, hopefully I will.”

“Have a good shift then,” Freya told him and walked away not even waiting for Arthur to tell her goodbye. She must have been really eager to get out.

The first two hours of his shift were mostly uneventful, except for a few minor incidents, one involving, to really nobody's surprise, the guy Freya had warned him about, but he was gone now. Arthur was back to reading his book, completely enthralled in it, ignoring the essay he was supposed to write today, in favour of turning one page after another. He only stopped every few pages to push his glasses back down his nose. Suddenly, he heard some quiet music playing in front of him. Or rather loud music, actually, since he could hear it despite whoever's headphones it was spilling from.

Looking up, his gaze landed on the guy standing in front of him. He’s cute, was the first thing his mind provided to him. Tall and lanky, or at least Arthur thought the black band shirt wasn't hiding any real muscles. His mop of dark hair stuck up every which way and looked as if it hadn't seen a comb in a long time. His eyes were dark blue and in strong contrast to the creamy white of his skin. Arthur's eyes were drawn to the place emitting the eardrum-shattering sounds; even with the headphones on, it was obvious the guy had quite unique ears.

It took Arthur a second too long to realise what the guy wanted as he was pushing a pile of books towards Arthur, his library card on top. Irritation was blossoming within Arthur's chest as he came to the conclusion that the guy obviously wanted to borrow the books and didn't even deem Arthur important enough to remove his headphones and talk to him. Arthur knew there was a lot worse people could do at a library. He and his colleagues could talk for hours about their weirdest incidents involving their readers, but still, not even getting acknowledged bugged him.

Without thinking too much about it, he leaned over his desk to grab for the guys headphones.

“You know, it's rude to be listening to music when you're waiting to borrow books,” he said as the headphones plopped free.

For a second the guy had the audacity to just frown at him before he said “Calm down, friend. I was just getting into the mood.”

Getting into the mood? Was this guy for real, Arthur thought and cast another look at the student standing in front of him. He had noticed the band shirt before, but now he also saw dark washed jeans and scruffy boots. 

“As if someone like me, would ever be friends with someone like you,” he sneered. Honestly, he felt like he was channeling his sister right now. Who was this guy even to call him a friend.  
His eyes fell on the library card “Merlin,” he added and really, who even names their kid something so weird? Probably some kind of hippies.  
Merlin looked at him in shock for a second before he started taking in Arthur's appearance, probably judging him for looking too posh, Arthur knew there was no dress code for the library, but he liked looking like a professional with a good job; it was clear, just from their different choice in clothing, that they were coming from different worlds.

“You’re not exactly who I’d choose to spend my nights with either, but here we are. So why don’t you just do your job and scan my books? Then we can both get on with our lives,” Merlin said. To Arthur's absolute annoyance, he put those damn earbuds back in, the screeching noises Merlin called music only slightly muffled by his large ears.

With an audible sigh (not that Merlin could hear him) he took the ID card and books lying in front of him and tried to look as disinterested as possible while doing his work--an act he had learned to do pretty early on at this job. He loved working at the library; he only loathed the people coming and going and not following the rules. Not that there was a rule for headphones, it was just, in Arthur's opinion, human decency to actually listen to the people whose help you needed, even if those people were paid to help you.

“Sadly, you can't renew this book, someone has already requested it before you.” Arthur had just reached the bottom of the pile when the system pinged and told him about the status of the book. There was no reaction on Merlin’s side for a few seconds before Arthur realised the idiot hadn't heard him. Angrily, he grabbed for the earbuds once more, and with only the tiniest of tug, he removed them from Merlin’s ears once more.

“Hey!” exclaimed Merlin, rubbing his ears as if Arthur had hurt him by removing the buds.

“I told you,” Arthur growled, really fed up by now, “It’s rude to listen to music when someone is helping you. Or did you not hear me the first time, Merlin? You should have done. You have the ears for it!”

Arthur knew his last words weren't fair but he was done with being fair, it's not like it was getting him anywhere, and he had better things to do than use all his time and energy on someone so annoyingly rude.

“And if you hadn’t have been listening to music,” Arthur continued smugly (Morgana would be really proud of him right now)....“You would have heard me when I said that you can’t renew this book. It’s non-renewable.”

“What!? No, I need that book to write my essay.” Suddenly Merlin seemed to be on high alert and no longer glued to his music.

“So do other people, Merlin, that’s why you can’t renew it. Another person has requested it.”

“Then what the hell am I supposed to do?” Merlin asked and by now Arthur was more than wondering how this guy managed to go to university.

Arthur really didn't want to deal with him anymore, so he picked up his own book again and leaned back in his chair without sparing the other man another glance. “That... is not my problem.”

Arthur started reading again but made sure not to get too absorbed in the book so that he could still keep an eye on the guy who was obviously quietly fuming. After the second page Merlin must have thought Arthur was distracted enough, which was the only explanation Arthur could come up with, as he saw Merlin’s hand go for the book. Dropping his own book in his lap, Arthur caught Merlin’s hand, and therefore the book, before he even had a chance to move it more than a few centimetres.

“This book is now reserved for another student.” Arthur stood up while talking, trying to look more imposing, although he was sure his choice in clothing wasn't exactly helping his case.

“But I just need it for a while; I’m not going to take it anywhere!” protested Merlin, tightening his grip on the book. Arthur was close to an ulcer by now, because really, Merlin wasn't the only person to need this book and trying to “steal it” from someone else was an absolute no-go for Arthur. He had seen his fair share of panicked students, desperately trying to get their hands on the right books to finish their essays or study for exams, but Merlin clearly was the rudest he had ever encountered.

Merlin tugged at the book, obviously thinking he could overpower him, so Arthur yanked at the book with a bit more strength than necessary, and ended up pulling Merlin flat against the counter.

“Give. Me. The. Book,” Arthur gritted out. He could see the look of surprise on Merlin’s face as he realised Arthur was stronger than he looked. Still he seemed determined to win this petty altercation by trying to pull back one more time. This time Arthur really underestimated his own strength. Working out with Percy at the gym clearly had done even more wonders than he had thought, he realised, as he gave the book, and Merlin, one more good yank. Suddenly other boy slid over his desk counter.

There was an “oof” sound (which Arthur wasn't sure which of them was responsible for) and some flailing limbs as they both fell over and landed hard on the floor behind the desk with Merlin pressed against Arthur’s chest.

Merlin was surprisingly light; it had been hard to properly guess what was going on under the oversized band shirt. Up close, Arthur realised he had the most mesmerising dark blue eyes. Under the library lights they seem to sparkle, like tiny stars in the dark, deep galaxy. And his scent! He smelled woodsy and mossy and like other things one associated with nature--not at all like the unwashed university student he looked like.

They stayed like this for a second too long, both busy catching their breath, before Merlin slowly tried to get up. He didn't get very far. Arthur couldn't say what came over him in that moment, but before his brain could catch up with the rest of his body, he made a grab for Merlin’s shirt to pull him closer again and…

… to kiss him. He was kissing the rude idiot. 

In that moment Arthur realised what he was doing, and a million scenarios flashed before his eyes, all ending with him losing his job because of sexually harassing a reader. He wanted to pull away and apologize, but before he could do either, Merlin’s mouth opened, his tongue propping against Arthur's still closed lips to push in. He deepened the kiss the second Arthur gave in. Merlin’s taste was addictive, the same way his scent was. Arthur stopped caring about how inappropriate the whole thing was and just enjoyed kissing the idiot over and over again.

“God, you’re such a prat,” murmured Merlin into their kiss, once they broke apart to breathe.

Arthur ran his hands down Merlin’s back when he realised he never had told Merlin his name.

“No, my name is Arthur,” he panted.

Merlin grinned down at him and kissed him again. “Same thing.”


End file.
